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Enlighten Me: Historic Hale-Byrnes House honors the “Witness Tree” with commemorative painting

The "Witness Tree" outside of the historic Hale-Byrnes House
Rachel Sawicki
/
Delaware Public Media
The "Witness Tree" outside of the historic Hale-Byrnes House

At the historic Hale-Byrnes House, experts say a more than 300-year-old sycamore tree’s time is nearing an end. Its lifespan famously included hosting a 1777 war council led by George Washington, earning the tree the nickname the “Witness Tree.”

To commemorate the tree and its role in history, members of the Hale-Byrnes House raised money for a painting of that famed revolutionary-era meeting.

In this week’s Enlighten Me, our Rachel Sawicki sat down with Kim Burdick – Resident Site Manager for the Hale-Byrnes House – to chat about the “Witness Tree” and the commemorative painting.

Delaware Public Media's Rachel Sawicki discusses the “Witness Tree” and its commemorative painting with Kim Burdick of the Hale-Byrnes House

There are many “Witness Trees” in the 13 colonies - trees that witnessed important moments in the Revolutionary War. Experts say one of Delaware’s, a more than 300-year-old sycamore tree at the Hale-Byrnes house in Newark, is nearing its end.

It’s named the “Witness Tree” for its role in hosting a 1777 war council meeting, led by George Washington. Even back then, it was full grown. Now it’s hollowed out and Resident Site Manager for the Hale-Byrnes House Kim Burdick says it presents safety concerns.

“They had some of the branches come off because of all this work going on," Burdick says. "Others to kind of stabilize it a little bit. It’s not like oak or some hardwood, so they were thinking about making a frame for that painting, making one out of sycamore.”

The painting she’s talking about is a commemorative piece for the tree, which will be unveiled Saturday at the Hale-Byrnes house. The painter, Bryant White, will be there to talk about the painting which depicts the tree in full bloom, with Washington and his generals underneath it and some soldiers in the background.

“[Washington] got kicked out of his church when he was young because they didn’t believe in war and all this stuff and he thought ‘yes we should fight the British," Burdick says as she recounts the story of the tree. "So he got booted out of Quakers. So imagine being here for a meeting at a Quakers house. Kind of weird.”

Burdick says under the tree, Washington and his top generals discussed how to protect Philadelphia.

The tree isn’t coming down in the immediate future, but there are potential plans to replace the tree with a sycamore sapling, a direct child of the original tree.

And Burdick notes the tree won’t go to waste – the wood will be used for several projects, including a gavel for the Delaware chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. She says it even gave home to a pregnant cat once, who had her litter of kittens inside the hollow trunk.

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Rachel Sawicki was born and raised in Camden, Delaware and attended the Caesar Rodney School District. They graduated from the University of Delaware in 2021 with a double degree in Communications and English and as a leader in the Student Television Network, WVUD and The Review.